The Heavenly Host

What was weirder, though, was that the steam seemed to be permeating everything, every room, every tunnel and wrapping himself, the D’Orcs and his friends in its embrace. The steam was oddly pervasive in and of itself, permeating everything — the people, the rocks and even the flames. And with all this, the hidden runes in the complex were somehow collecting mana. It was as if the complex, or more precisely, the elaborate hidden runes within the complex were able to extract mana from combining fire, air, water, earth and animus.

According to the books in Freehold, mana was created by the friction between the five elements. Was it possible that this complex was some sort of engine to capture this friction? What was clear was that since the rain had started, the drain on his own mana had decreased as the complex had started to collect mana from this network of runes. He could follow his own mana flow through the system and see the interconnections. He just was not sure what all those connections were doing.

The other thing that he had discovered was that the complex had a number of interesting chambers and many different sets of runes and spells. Many of these runes were still dormant. It would be very interesting to know what these systems of runes would do. Clearly some of them were for protection, as well as energy generation, but he had no idea what the rest did.

Darg-Krallnom entered the platform inhaling the steaming vapor along with the gentle, pleasing scent of sulfur from below the platform. He stuck out his arms to feel the gentle rain upon his bare skin. He was still some distance away, but Tom was pretty sure the D’Orc was smiling, or at least pleased. D’Orc expressions were even harder to discern than regular demon emotions.

“Permission to approach?” Darg-Krallnom asked as he reached the base of the dais. Tom motioned for him to come up. “My Lord,” he said, bowing as he approached. “Your return is truly welcome! I despaired of never seeing the mountain fully functional again.”

“This mountain is truly a wonder.” Tom smiled. “There is so much that is still dormant, but that will change as the mana levels build.”

“Indeed.” Darg-Krallnom nodded. “It has been nearly a decade since the Eternally Damned One’s forces have raided us. We have been expecting them for some time now. It will be good to have the fortress’s full defenses available for the first time since...” he trailed off awkwardly.

“Lilith’s forces raid the mountain periodically?” Tom asked, concerned.

“Every decade or so, generally between seven to fifteen years. They like to keep us off guard.”

“Why? What do they seek to gain?”

Darg-Krallnom shrugged. “We have debated this; we have not given them any particular provocation. We have no interest in them and ignore them in their fortress. We trade with demon clans further out than ourselves. No one ventures to the Courts. We suspect they are trying to keep our numbers in check.”

Tom shook his head. “Then she must fear you — fear the D’Orcs becoming a threat to her reign.” He smiled, as did Darg-Krallnom, and Tom nodded appreciatively.

“We shall repay her treachery against you, My Lord. Now that you have returned, her vile betrayal shall be repaid,” Darg-Krallnom told Tom with a truly heated passion.

“At some point I will need your reports on her actions so that a full accounting can be made against her,” Tom said, going along. At this point, he was playing a role he barely understood. He was under no illusion that any of this treachery had happened to him, but clearly, the D’Orcs had suffered and felt a need for vengeance. Although if his world’s idea of orcs was anywhere close to being accurate, it probably did not take a whole lot of treachery to demand vengeance.

“Indeed, those of us who failed you must atone,” Darg-Krallnom replied somberly.

Tom shook his head. “I am not interested in the atonement of any of the D’Orcs. You were betrayed as well, correct?” Tom was swinging into left field here.

Darg-Krallnom nodded. “We should have been better prepared for her treachery, her sabotage. We did not keep our guard sufficiently raised in her presence and she was able to disrupt the mountain’s mana generation even as the Unholy Terror of Tiernon struck you with the vile dark blade. We failed you at your hour of greatest need!” Darg-Krallnom was clearly anguished, bending over as if in pain.

Tom reached out and grabbed him by the biceps. “You did not fail. You were betrayed! Do not forget that.” He squeezed his arm to get the D’Orcs attention. Darg-Krallnom inhaled and stood up, nodding his understanding of Tom’s implicit command.

“If it will make you feel better, I have essentially destroyed Excrathadorus Mortis; I reversed it completely. It is now a blade of healing. It can no longer serve its former purpose.” Darg-Krallnom’s eyes widened in surprise. “In fact, I am pretty sure the priests of Tiernon are scared to even touch it at this point.”