At the Gates of Darkness Part 13

'What we came for,' he answered. 'It is the Greater Demon Lore, and more.'

'More?' asked Pug. 'What is in it?'

'Everything there is to know about demons,' he said with barely contained excitement. 'I consider myself a practiced warlock, demons are my specialty; but I know nothing!' He sat back. 'I haven't finished it yet, but I have read enough to know that something incredible is underway.'

Pug glanced at Magnus. 'Another minute, no more.'

Amirantha said, 'We can talk in detail later,' he glanced at Jim. 'After you steal the book.'

Jim shrugged, as if that would be a trivial issue. The library was not the Imperial Treasury, he could be in and out in minutes with the volume secreted within his baggage. As a diplomat, he would be spared any search of his personal items, and once at sea, the three magicians could pour over it to their hearts content.

Amirantha said, 'There is so much to consider.' He paused, knowing they would have to keep silent soon. 'The demons are so much more than we thought.' He fell silent. 'Much more,' he repeated, then Magnus raised his hand and loudly said, 'I found a recounting of the sea battle of Questor's View, in the Fifteenth Year of the Reign of Rodney the Third.' Forcing a mild laugh, he added, 'This account is quite different to the one we found in the Royal Library at Krondor.'

Talk turned to mundane academia with a few comments made about the hospitality of the Quegans, all flattering; each of the men quickly falling into their role of innocent guest.

Jim considered the perfect time to leave his quarters without waking whoever was with him; he knew the Quegans would ensure he shared his bed with an agent. If he encountered no one along the short road from the palace to the library, he could get to the library, get the book-once Amirantha gave him a precise description-and return in less than a half hour, perhaps as little as a quarter.

Pug and Magnus shared the same thought: just what had Amirantha found in that book?

And Amirantha sat silently, unsure that he had even begun to understand what he had uncovered, and wondering if he was able to make sense of it. For if this book wasn't the total fabrication of a deluded mind, it changed everything he had ever thought he knew about demons and what his people called the Fifth h.e.l.l.

Amirantha placed the huge volume down on the table. Jim quipped, 'Stealing it wasn't a problem. Getting it back without falling over was.'

The tome was a foot and a half along the spine and contained about fifty or sixty pages of heavy vellum. It easily weighed fifty pounds; not a difficult load to carry, but impossible to hide. Luckily, as Jim observed, if the Quegans suspected he might skulk around during the night, they would expect him to attempt to pilfer state secrets or imperial treasure, not forgotten books.

They had left Queg less than an hour before, and once clear of the harbour and any observation, mundane or magic, Magnus had transported them to his father's study on top of the tower at Sorcerer's Isle.

Amirantha looked as fascinated as a child opening a gift from Father Winter at the Midwinter's Festival. He pointed at the book and said, 'It should take me only a day or two to determine if what is written is remotely true. If so...' He looked at Pug. 'My newfound friend, the elf Gulamendis, and I both came to our skills the hard way, through trial and error. We are among the few who survived that education, Pug, for I suspect a few lads and la.s.ses who tried to conjure their first demon ended up with painful, deadly results.

'With this,' he poked his finger at it for emphasis, 'I would be twice the master of demon lore that I am now.'

Pug said, 'This sounds impressive.'

'You sound very enthusiastic,' observed Jim.

Magnus shot him a sideways glance and then asked the Warlock. 'Who wrote it?'

'I see no author name,' replied Amirantha. 'It may be stated somewhere; I only read a fourth of it before Livia returned to call it a night.

'There are-' He caught his breath. 'I don't know where to begin.' He paused again, then said, 'My perception of the demon realm, what we call the Fifth Circle of h.e.l.l, was that it's a place of chaos, constantly s.h.i.+fting and violent, where the strong rise and take command.' He let his voice drop. 'But it's so much more than that.'

'They have hierarchies.' He held up his hand and could see he had both magician's undivided attention; even Jim listened closely. 'I, like you, thought that the demon king, was simply the strongest, the one who had achieved his rank through combat, murder, terror, or alliances with those seeking his protection...' He sighed.

'What is it?' asked Magnus.

'Those demons are a slave cla.s.s,' said Amirantha.

'Slave cla.s.s?'

'Like Kes.h.i.+an Dog Soldiers, trained killers, crazed, vicious, only good for one thing: fighting war.

'Even the imps are little more than criminals in their society.'

'Criminals?' asked Jim, now obviously interested.

'They have a society,' answered Amirantha. 'They have builders-Where was that hall you describe on the other side of the rift where Macros died fighting Maarg?' he asked Pug.

Pug blinked as if he had never thought to question it. 'I saw it so briefly.'

'Yet you described it to me when you told me of Macros's,' said Amirantha.

'I thought it was some other world,' he shrugged.

'One the demons had already conquered?' said Magnus.

Amirantha said, 'I'll have to spend a few days studying this.' He looked at Pug. 'May I take it to my quarters?'

'Of course,' said Pug.

Amirantha put his hands on the book, but instead of picking it up, he opened it to the very last page. The page was folded, and as he unfolded it, the others could see that it had been tipped into the volume, and a four foot by three foot piece of heavy vellum was revealed.

'What is that?' asked Jim.

Almost grinning, the Warlock said, 'Unless I'm mistaken, My Lord James Dasher Jamison, this is a map of h.e.l.l!'

CHAPTER ELEVEN - Escape.

THE BROTHERS STOOD MOTIONLESS.

Laromendis used all of his skill to conceal their presence in the bas.e.m.e.nt as a pair of demons escorted a handful of prisoners out of the cells. Only Gulamendis's demon sensitivity had alerted them in time. The quip he had made moments before became reality as they stood flat against the wall while the Conjurer made it look as if they were part of it.

The time pa.s.sed torturously slow yet eventually the door to the cell block was closed and the prisoners marched away. They had been a mixed group: four dwarves, two humans and two elves. All were silent, sullen, yet had not looked particularly fearful.

When the room was empty, Laromendis let the illusion fade. 'What was that?'

'I couldn't understand the language,' said his brother. 'The demons are not speaking any language I recognize.'

Since coming to this alien castle on this unknown world, they had been confronted with one conundrum after another. The frustration that had first gripped Gulamendis when he encountered the demon encampment on the previous world, that had raised to a maddening degree when he witnessed the a.s.sault by the rival demon faction, was now close to delivering him into a rage at not knowing what was occurring, 'We need information,' he said.

'Where do you suppose we get it?'

'I think our only choice is to go in there and talk to some of the prisoners.'

'Are you mad?' asked Laromendis.

'Why? Do you think they might give us up to their masters?'

'If they think it will curry favour, they might!' argued the Conjurer.

'What do you suggest, then?'

'I think we should try to find out more on our own. Let us get out of here and see what else we can discover.' He sighed. 'If we find no clear way home, or at least gain a better sense of this place, we can always come back.' He glanced around and said, 'Besides, I'd rather strike up a conversation in there with our distant cousins when we're less likely to be surprised by guards.'

Gulamendis inclined his head as he thought, then said, 'Agreed. We might better be served to do it while the humans and dwarves sleep. We can certainly count on our kin to not betray us.'

'You have a better opinion of our people than I do, brother,' said Laromendis. 'Come on, and stay close. If I have to conjure another illusion quickly, it will only be a small one.'

'I shall be your shadow,' said his brother softly.

'Which way?' asked Laromendis.

'Across or behind? Let's go forward.'

They set off softly, moving carefully up the stairway that had been on their right hand when they first entered the dungeon.

'Any other suggestions?' whispered Gulamendis.

'Keep still,' hissed his brother.

They had reached the top of the stairs and found themselves in a vast armoury. At the far end, a group of demons were endeavouring to fit armour to what were apparently new recruits. They communicated with them in grunts and other guttural sounds, showing them how to fasten the new chest-plates and helms. They were so intent on their task, that they failed to notice the two elves who walked into the hall.

Gulamendis backed into the hallway as his brother tugged on his tunic. When they were back in the shadows, they turned and hurried down the stairs. When they were near the level of the entrance to the dungeon, they knelt and peered into the room; seeing no movement they hurried across and paused. 'That way,' said Laromendis.

'This time a little slower, brother.'

'Agreed.'

They crept up the stairs.

Most of this huge keep was empty. The elves judged that there must have been room enough for a thousand or more soldiers to be garrisoned in the now empty barracks scattered throughout the ma.s.sive structure. It was clear from its design that the occupying forces would be ideally placed to reach their defensive positions in the shortest time possible, rather than housing them in a single large barracks, as was common practice in most fortifications. It was also clear that this gigantic keep had been constructed ages before, but that its scale was wrong for demons. The halls and galleries were too large for the smallest of them, and yet far too small for the greater demons. Something between a dwarf and tall elf had lived here in the past.

Moreover, the demon occupation was obviously a recent one. Vast areas of the place were empty and covered in dust. One tower to the front of the main keep showed signs of occupancy, but all of the others were abandoned.

They climbed one out of curiosity, to see if a higher vantage might give them a better sense of where they were. When they reached the top room, they found the door locked. 'Do we try to break it?' asked Laromendis.

'We might as well risk one of the knives,' said Gulamendis. 'If we run into demons, these two blades will not count for much.'

'I still have the wand,' he said, patting his tunic.

'That might buy us a few minutes,' said the Demon Master, 'but I'd rather not put that to the test. If an alarm is raised...'

Laromendis said, 'How do you propose attacking this door.'

His brother smiled. 'By stealth,' he answered.

'No, seriously, what are you thinking?'

'Hinges,' said Gulamendis taking his blade edge to the top of the bottom hinge. It resisted, but after wiggling the blade, he managed to get it under the head of the hinge bolt, and when it came up slightly, he gripped it with powerful fingers and pulled. 'Got it!' he said softly.

The second hinge took longer, but after several frustrating attempts, it finally yielded to the brothers, leaving Gulamendis with bruised knuckles and a dull knife-edge. The door protested as they pushed on the hinges, but gave way and moved forward slightly. 'The latch, it must be one of the long metal types,' said Laromendis.

'Let me see if I can squeeze through and free it from the other side.' They pushed and wiggled the door back as far as it would go, and the Demon Master squeezed through. Once he was on the other side, he said, 'Step away, I need to push the door back a little.' He did so, then Laromendis heard a door latch free up and suddenly the door began to wobble and fall back.

His brother caught it and said, 'I could use some help, this thing is heavy!'

Laromendis reached out and grappled with the hinge edge of the door and helped his brother swing it out of the way. Then they stopped and examined the inside of the locked room.

'What is this place?' whispered Laromendis.

The late afternoon sun illuminated the room just enough for both the brothers to see that it had once been a study. There were books and tomes against one wall, and a writing desk with a dried up inkwell and ancient quills; rolls of brittle parchment lay scattered on the surface.

'My skin is itching,' said Gulamendis. 'Whoever resided here, practiced dark arts.'

'Is that why the demons didn't open the door?'

'Probably just too lazy,' said Gulamendis. 'They tend to take the path of least resistance.'

Laromendis picked up a paper and said, 'Whoever penned this left in a hurry. It's unfinished.'

'But he expected to return,' said Gulamendis. 'He locked the door behind him.'

'A mystery,' said his brother. Pointing to the window he said, 'Let's take a look outside.'

The window was a vaulted affair, with a large cus.h.i.+oned window seat. They could both stand on it and peer through the dirty gla.s.s. 'Can we open this? I can't see a thing,' said Laromendis.

'It has a latch,' answered his brother.

Gulamendis jumped down and his brother followed. The Demon Master tried the latch and found it reluctant, but slowly released it. He pulled on the window and found the hinges just as difficult. 'No one has used this room in a very long time.'

Laromendis said, 'Does any of that look familiar to you?'

Gulamendis looked and saw a foreboding mountain range in the distance. The low light on the left told him he was looking southward as the sun set behind the dark clouds. After a moment, Gulamendis said, 'No, nothing.'

'Can you see the fire peaks?' he asked, indicating the distant volcanoes.

'Of course,' said Gulamendis. 'Why?'

'See how that one ma.s.sive one rises up on the right, while those other two look like smaller twins to the left?'

'Yes,' said the Demon Master. 'Does it mean something to you?'

'The Fire Twins.'