Chapter 10

Marlena awakened confused, in an unfamiliar bed. As the sleep fog in her head burned away, she dimly remembered growing sleepy as she sat in a chair talking long into the night with Devan about their shared passion for illusion magic. Marlena hoped that Devan had gained as much from their conversation as she had.

Stretching and shrugging off the coverings over her, she rose from the bed to examine her rumpled robe. She straightened it as best she could, and then moved to a vanity, finding a brush there to make her hair presentable.

A glance out the window told her that it was well into morning, and she knew that she'd already missed breakfast back at the manor. Her grumbling stomach informed her rather pointedly that she'd missed breakfast here as well.

Upon opening the door, she realized that she had no idea where she was in the tower. Shrugging her shoulders, she headed up the stairs, knowing that Devan's private quarters were at the top of the tower.

When she opened the door, Marlena found Devan dressed and packing a few things into the pockets of her robe. She apologized, "I'm sorry I fell asleep."

Devan made a dismissive gesture. "It's probably a good thing. I was about to nod off too, and then we'd both have woke up stiff as boards in these chairs. Feel like joining me on a little jaunt?"

"Where?"

"Up north to Normandal. Goblin raids are nothing unusual up there, but last night was worse than usual. The King contacted Thakkor, and he wants me to go take a look up there."

"I'm sure there are others who would be far more useful than me."

"You need to stop underestimating yourself. Trust me — you are. I watched Danica do it her whole life, so I'm pretty much an expert. You obviously need to get out a little, or you wouldn't have thought of coming here. Come along with me. I'd like the company."

Marlena grinned and answered, "I will." The sound of her stomach rumbling nearly drowned out her words, however.

Devan chuckled and said, "Breakfast first. If there are any goblins left in the area, they'll hear us coming from a mile away otherwise."

Marlena laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

Widely varied sounds of excitement erupted from the girls as they beheld their toys, the colors of the glaze now vibrant after firing.

"Are they done?" Celes' clone Selena asked. Her cheeks turned red when her sisters erupted in giggles.

"Not yet," Danica laughed. "I haven't enchanted them yet. I'll start working the magic on them today. If everything goes right, they'll be finished soon."

"Come along, girls. You've been away from your studies long enough."

"Yes, Gran," the girls sighed in response before turning to follow her to their wing of the manor.

"Those are about the only thing that could distract those girls from reading," Celes remarked. "I know I wasn't half the student any of them are. Reading bored me to tears."

"I think it's knowing that they can't learn to do magic unless they learn to read," Danica suggested. "They have such an odd combination of childishness and maturity."

"I would ask if the two of you made up, but there was little doubt of it last night," Ashley said with a coy smile.

"Oh?" Celes glanced at the redheaded witch knowingly. "I thought you were going to take Marlena's bed last night, since she was off visiting Danica's sister. That's an awful lot of thick walls and open space to have heard anything."

Andrea's blush and her embarrassed chuckle instantly confirmed Celes' suspicions.

Ashley laughed, her face just as red as Andrea's.

"I think Celes won this round," Danica remarked, fighting down her own laughter.

"So, should we pick out a demon to try to capture?" Ashley asked, changing the subject.

Celes tapped her fingers twice on the table and responded, "Now is as good a time as any."

Ashley walked over to the honeycomb of cells holding the many maps that each member of the group had provided. "Any map in particular we should use?"

Danica made the first suggestion. "We should avoid Ferrartene."

"Egoria, Freeland, and Armand as well," Celes added.

Turning to Celes, Danica asked, "The Western Baronies?"

"Zoraster seems to have a lot of influence there too," Celes argued.

"There weren't many reports of demons there, were there?" Andrea asked.

Celes pursed her lips and tilted her head back with a little grunt of consideration. "If we do find demons there, then we'll know that they just weren't as active before most of them went underground."

Ashley selected a few maps, already hearing the sound of agreement in the voices of her newfound friends. "The Western Baronies it is, then," she said as she walked back over to the table with the maps.

Everyone gathered around the table as Ashley cast her blessed earthen sphere down at the map. Once the cascade of sparks settled, Danica and Celes both looked at each other with obvious concern etched on their faces.

"What is it?" Andrea asked.

Celes pointed at the largest red spot on the map. "That's the Forge."

Danica stood and said, "I'm going to send letters to everyone right now. They need to be warned — quickly."

"Trapping a demon may just have to wait," Celes warned ominously.

Turning away from the corpse of yet another child, Marlena wiped her eyes and asked in a small voice, "Did the monsters leave anyone alive?"

Devan pulled a sheet from the bed, spreading it over the small body on the floor. "Unfortunately, it looks like they did. Did you notice that we're only finding very young girls and very old women?"

"Oh gods," Marlena gasped, covering her mouth.

Both women turned toward the window when they heard the sound of hoof beats. Upon seeing armed men in the livery of Normandal, Devan gestured for Marlena to follow her outside.

Weapons snapped from sheathes the moment the two redheads stepped through the partially charred doorway of the house. Ignoring the obviously threatening posture, Devan continued forward and asked, "Who's the swiftest rider with you?"

The leader of the patrol countered with a question of his own, "Who are you?"

"Devan. Thakkor sent me. Those filthy goblins have prisoners. Send your fastest rider to warn any other patrols in the area. If you want to see any of these women alive again, you need to get every man possible out here hunting for them."

Snapping a finger toward one of his fellow riders, the leader ordered, "Get back to Captain Rhys so he can spread the word. As soon as you're done there, trade for a fresh mount and ride straight back to Hamiltown. Tell the governor to muster up every man who can ride and swing a sword."

"And we're going on a goblin hunt," Devan said, gesturing for Marlena to follow.

Hearing a faint, chiming sound, Mara signaled for her sister and the promising young man they'd discovered to halt. Even though she hadn't heard the chime, Nara could hear Mara's thoughts, and thus knew that Danica had sent a message.

Mara withdrew the magical bowl from her satchel, finding the letter inside. Her smile faded almost as soon as she unfolded the piece of paper. Hearing the words echoing in Mara's mind, Nara's expression darkened as well.

Replacing the bowl in her satchel, Mara said, "We must return now."

"I agree, Sister," Nara replied.

Mara gestured to the confused young warrior standing nearby. "Come close, Gerald. Though we had hoped to further evaluate your skills on the march to the Forge, something has occurred that demands our immediate attention."

The three travelers clasped hands, and then vanished in a flash of light, returning to the Forge.

Janelle opened her door to find Venaru standing outside, his grim expression revealing that he had received the same ill news that she and Bear had just perused. "Terran has already spoken with us. He suggests we should meet at the college," she informed the wiry warrior.

As Janelle stepped outside with her towering husband, Venaru asked, "How is it that such a demon could be amongst us, unknown?"

"Perhaps he has not gone unnoticed," Janelle said, thinking of the dangerous, yet promising warrior that had recently arrived to dominate even more advanced trainees at the Forge.

Mache faltered in his march near the forest south of the Forge, feeling the touch of scrying magic. The sensation lasted for but a fraction of a second, but even that brief encounter revealed the nature of the spy — a witch.

"Back in step, Mache — you worthless son of a whore!"

"About time he made a mistake," someone behind Mache whispered.

Recognizing the voice, Mache smiled, adding the speaker and the instructor to the list of people who would taste his fire first, once his sire allowed him to unleash his power.

Danica returned to the room where everyone else still sat around the table. "I sent letters to everyone. At least they won't be unaware of the danger, now. I got a reply back from Janelle. She already suspects someone, but says he doesn't look anything like a demon."

"Some powerful demons can take human forms that are nearly impossible to distinguish from any normal person," Ashley revealed. "We've checked a more detailed map. The demon isn't actually at the Forge, it appears to be somewhere to the south."

"So, we go send it back to hell," Celes suggested, flipping her hand in the gesture she usually used when activating her powers.

"We know nothing of this demon's powers — only that it's strong," Ashley warned.

"It's only one demon," Celes scoffed. "We dealt with three and didn't even get a scratch."

"We were prepared, and knew their powers," Ashley countered.

"Bah. What should we do, then?"

"I've already tweaked Ebonar's nose once. I think Celes and I should go see what we can learn," Danica suggested. "We're well known at the Forge, so we won't arouse suspicion with anyone there that doesn't have a nefarious purpose."

"I don't like it," Andrea interjected. "If it's a powerful demon, we should all go together."

"Celes and I have the strongest protective magic right now, and we won't be alone. I know you never met Terran, Janelle, Bear, or the others, but we all work together well. We're just going to see what we can find out. I promise we won't confront it."

"I'm not fond of the idea either." Ashley sighed and added, "But, I understand what you're saying. Anything you can learn will help. The demons seem to be going underground, hiding their presence. It may not wish a confrontation."

"So Danica and I go sniff the thing out, and then we all go send it back to hell," Celes said with a wicked grin.

Ashley nodded her agreement, and Andrea reluctantly did so as well. "What about Marlena? With the two of you gone, how will she get home when she calls?" Andrea asked.

With a knowing smile, Danica asked, "You know my sister's pattern, don't you?"

Andrea blushed, mirroring her action upon first seeing the ring of intertwined bodies that formed Devan's teleportation pattern in the tower. "Don't tease."

"Then you can use your teleport egg and go pick up Marlena," Danica said, knowing full well that Andrea was anxiously awaiting the opportunity to do so. The young woman had a distinct fondness for teleporting for some reason, even above her love of magic in general.

Seeing the smile creeping across Andrea's face, Danica laughed and said, "I think that settles it. Let's go get ready, Celes. It will be nice to see everyone again — demon or no demon."

Scrunching up her nose against the stink of the ripped garment, Devan cast her spell again. "They're close. This bunch with whatever goblin lost this will never attack anyone again when we're done with them."

Devan gestured for Marlena to follow, still a little in awe of the invisibility spell the illusionist had cast over them. The pair had walked within a few feet of a deer without alarming the skittish creature, and yet they could see each other perfectly. Despite her strong command of illusion magic, Devan knew a true master when she encountered one. Marlena's abilities were nothing short of phenomenal.

The distinctive odor of unwashed sweat, rotting meat, and excrement that always permeated anywhere goblins dwelled reached the two women at the same time as the sound of the monsters. Mixed in with the grunts and chattering in the goblin language, Devan heard weak whimpers in a feminine voice.

Carefully scanning her surroundings, Devan found the sentry she expected up in the fork of a tree. The creature was looking the wrong way, observing whatever was happening in the rude goblin encampment. "Get ready to recast your spell. I'm going to take out that goblin so it can't warn anyone if it does happen to look this way."

Marlena nodded and retrieved a small diamond from one of her pouches, the material component of the powerful spell.

Devan spoke the words of the spell and gestured toward the goblin, which instantly slumped in its perch, sound asleep. She then lowered her hand, letting her concentration on a ring of telekinesis lapse when she observed that the goblin was well wedged in its perch.

Marlena cast her spell, once more shrouding the two redheads in a cloak of magical stealth. After only a short walk through the trees, both women scowled upon seeing a goblin atop a young blonde. The woman was obviously too weak to struggle, only able to emit a few whimpers as the monster raped her. Other goblins looked on, awaiting their turn.

"I'll take care of that one," Devan growled, pointing to indicate the goblin furiously pounding its victim.

Remembering a tactic that Danica and the others had used when assaulting the monsters in the wood at the Forge, Marlena said. "I'll take care of the rest."

Hearing the confident and somewhat devious tone of the illusionist's voice, Devan let out a dark chuckle and said, "I like the sound of that."

"Try to remain under cover when you attack and my cloaking spell lapses. I doubt the goblins will pay much attention to anything else once I turn my illusions on them, though."

"Ready?"

Marlena nodded, her hands and lips already conjuring up her spell.

Devan spoke the words of her spell, releasing a magical missile. The dart of light struck the goblin square in the head, blasting through the monster's skull and out the other side. As the dead creature slumped over the pitifully sobbing woman, Marlena completed her spell, willing power into it from both her artifact and her gift.

Devan's eyes widened in surprise when six ogres burst from the trees surrounding the camp, bellowing a challenge. The goblins immediately panicked, fleeing from the monsters and making no effort to confront the enormous enemies now in their midst. One of the ogre illusions brought down its massive club, smashing a goblin into the earth with a sickening thud and several sharp cracks. As though boneless, the goblin crumpled into a heap, every limb twisted at impossible angles.

With the remainder of the goblins in full flight, Devan moved into the camp. Marlena followed, releasing her control over all but one of the ogres, allowing the illusions to fade and vanish. Sending a thought to her ring, Devan used its magic to hurl the goblin atop the young woman into a tree. She knelt down, shaking her head sadly. The woman was covered in scratches from the monster's claws, leaking cum from her abused sex, and nearly senseless from the mind-numbing despair of relentless rapes.

"Filthy vermin," Devan muttered under her breath. The sounds of goblin voices in the wood caused her to turn in the direction of the sound. She was surprised to see a goblin peeking through the foliage, and then a second. "Not good," she said as more and more goblins appeared, the monsters now approaching with weapons drawn.

Marlena ordered her remaining ogre to attack, but the monsters continued to stream from the dark interior of the forest. Devan stood and hastily cast a spell, summoning up a wall of flame between her and the approaching goblins.

As more and more monsters appeared, Devan let out a curse and ceased in casting her next spell. "Marlena, there are too many of them. This is no raiding party. We have to get this woman out of here and warn Normandal."

Ordering her ogre to smash another goblin, Marlena couldn't help but agree. The wood was alive with goblins, growing more courageous as their numbers swelled. She hurried to Devan's side, taking the other redhead's hand even as Devan grasped the limp hand of the woman on the ground.

Afraid to teleport the weakened woman normally, Devan changed her mind and cast the Hellgate instead. The transition from place to place wasn't as hard on the body as the instantaneous move of the teleportation spell. Mentally causing the portal to swallow up all three of them, Devan stood and pulled healing potions from her bag of holding. "See if you can get one of those in her."

"I'll try to clean her up a little, too. I have a spare robe in my bag that she can cover up with. Poor girl."

"I don't know whether we did her a favor in saving her or not," Devan said grimly. "She may never recover from the shock." Shifting the focus of the portal, she eventually found the approaching men of Normandal, just in time.

Opening the portal so that the soldiers and volunteers could see her, Devan shouted, "Wait! There are too many of them! If you go in there with anything less than an army, it's suicide."

The leader of the men protested, "But, the women taken..."

"There's nothing you can do. We saved one, but I don't know if she'll thank us for it." Looking over at Marlena and the young blonde, Devan saw the illusionist struggling to clothe the woman's nude body in a robe. Utilizing her ring, Devan assisted Marlena by lifting the unconscious blonde up from the ground.

As soon as Marlena tied the robe, Devan said, "Find out if she has any family still alive. She's going to need them. We're going to Osborn to warn the King personally. Make sure nobody enters that wood, and I suggest you start building fortifications. Anything you can do to slow them down until you're prepared to hold them off will help." The power of Devan's magic ring safely deposited the blonde on the ground.

"I understand. Gods speed you to the King — and protect us all."

Devan nodded by way of farewell, and then closed the portal again. Ignoring the scantily clad demons appearing within the room that comprised her personal realm in the Hellgate, she shifted the focus to the capital of Normandal.

C'seka tasted Danica in both of the females before him. Prudently, he simply observed. Direct action against those associated with the tantalizing — and dangerous — female called Danica had proven painful.

Both females were attractive, sharing the fiery-colored manes of the female, Danica. C'seka's cock stood erect and throbbing, desire mingling with his hunger for their power and their flesh. Their concern for other beings intrigued him, an alien concept to any demon.

Remaining in the background of the other demons attempting to tempt the females, C'seka considered whether this weakness could be exploited.

Devan and Marlena reappeared in Devan's tower, having informed the King of Normandal about the goblin horde assembling on the edge of the country. "I need to go talk to Thakkor. Normandal is an important ally, one of the few that is willing to openly build up their forces with us. I'm sure Thakkor will send help," Devan said.

Marlena gave Devan's hand a final squeeze before releasing it. "I'll call for Danica or Celes to come pick me up. Maybe we can help."

"Danica hates goblins as much as I do, and we'd be fools to refuse help from all of you. Tell my sister I love her, and tell everyone else I said hello. We're going to have to do this again — minus the goblins, of course."

"I'd like that," Marlena responded with a smile.

"Sorry to be rude," Devan said with a wink, and then vanished from the tower.

Marlena called upon her magic, sending her image and voice streaking across the miles to the valley and manor she now called home. When she couldn't locate Danica or Celes immediately, she chose to talk to Andrea and Ashley instead. Both women started a little when Marlena's image appeared next to them in the room. "Are Celes or Danica there? I'm ready to come home, and I have news about a goblin attack — a big one."

"They went to the Forge, but I'll come get you," Andrea said with a little more excitement in her voice than she'd actually intended.

Even the partially transparent image of Marlena showed her confusion. "You'll come get me?"

It was Marlena's turn to start when Andrea suddenly vanished from sight, only to reappear in her peripheral vision. "How?"

Andrea held up her little silvery egg. "Presents from Danica, and I guess they work. You can use them to go anywhere that you know well, or has one of these patterns that you can memorize. I have one for you too, so you can actually take yourself home."

"Why did they go to the Forge?"

"We found a very dangerous demon there. Danica and Celes went to see if they could learn anything about it," Andrea explained as she handed Marlena one of the little teleportation devices.

"Well, let's go home and you can tell me more there." Marlena sighed and added, "We'll have to add goblins to our list of enemies, now."

"It's better than demons," Andrea suggested.

"Not by much," Marlena countered. "How do these work?"

"Just imagine home and press on the little gemstone. One second you're here, and the next you're there. It's wonderful. I'll see you at home." With that, Andrea vanished.

Unable to suppress a smile brought on by the young blonde's exuberance, Marlena activated her egg and vanished as well.

Danica opened her eyes, having just utilized her gift to protect her friends at the Forge. Just before leaving, Danica had received a note from Mara saying that everyone would meet them in a council room at the college of magic on the grounds of the Forge. "I don't know how much it will help, but I know better than to think that any of you will hide from danger."

"Danger would do well to hide from us," Bear declared with a flippant air. The hulking mountain of a man puffed out his chest and continued, "The Companions of the Forge are not to be trifled with."

"I wish Brandon, Cheron, and those two grumpy dwarves were here," Celes said after a little chuckle at Bear's posturing.

Nara glanced at her twin sister, both dark-haired women nodding in agreement. Nara said, "As do we all, I'm sure."

Danica sat down and turned toward the lithe archer, Janelle. "You said that you suspected someone?"

Janelle nodded and answered, "Mache. He arrived here only a short while ago, but he excels even beyond men and women who have trained here for a year or more. There's just something — wrong about him."

"I have watched that one," Terran declared, tousling his dark, shoulder length locks. The wizard sat up straighter in his chair. "I haven't had as much contact with him, but I too find him disconcerting."

"That's as good a place to start as any," Danica said with a tilt of her head and a half shrug. "If anyone else has any ideas, feel free to speak up. We've learned a lot about demons from someone who knows them well, and she believes that the demon could be hiding, attempting to avoid detection."

"So it could be anyone," Venaru interjected. His poised wiry frame and his stern gaze combining to give the impression that he might spring from the chair like an unleashed missile at any moment, though the eastern warrior actually sat quite comfortably in his chair, stroking his cheeks beneath his almond-shaped eyes in thought.

"Not anyone you know well, most likely," Celes said with a shake of her head. "They might be able to look like someone you know, but they're still demons. You'd know by the way they acted that there was something wrong."

"So it could be any recent recruit, or anyone we don't know well," Terran said.

With a little dismissive gesture of her right hand, Danica said, "Or it could be nobody here. When we found the demon, it was actually south of here, near the woods."

Janelle pointed her finger toward Danica and tilted her head back with a little satisfied sound before saying, "Mache's group marched near the woods around the time your note arrived."

"Are you sure your instant dislike for the man might not be associated with his womanizing ways?" Bear asked his wife.

Janelle glared at her husband, who shrank back into his chair away from his slender wife, drawing a chorus of laughter from all in the room. Drawing out the word dramatically in a tone that sounded as though she was speaking with a child, Janelle said, "No."

Speaking words that magically created water within a scrying bowl at the center of the table, Mara asked, "Shall we have a look at this Mache?"

Nods and sounds of agreement prompted Mara to cast her spell. "Unless someone knows where he is, I'll concentrate on large groups at first."

"He should be with his group in the mess hall right now," Janelle responded.

Bear asked, "Have you been keeping track of him?"

"Even before we found out about the demon, I didn't trust him. I know a few of the men in his group well, and they're keeping me informed," Janelle answered.

"I'll begin there, then." Mara passed her hand in front of the scrying bowl, causing the waters within to swirl and glow with magical light. A few seconds later, an overhead view of the mess hall appeared.

"There he is," Janelle said, pointing out a table in the corner of the room where a man sat with four others, shunned by the rest of the warriors in training.

Mara focused in the scrying pool, and Celes saw the man's eyes dart toward the point of the magic. "He knows someone is scrying on him," she pointed out.

"He is rather handsome," Danica observed.

"He's devilishly charming to women and men like those, who follow him around like a litter of puppies," Janelle said and punctuated it with a disgusted snort.

Terran squinted at the image of the man. "I know that expression. I've worn it often enough while seeking out the source of something magical in the air. If everyone knows his face now, I suggest we cease scrying upon the man, as he obviously knows he is being observed."

"Not much we can learn from him shoveling food in his mouth," Celes said with a shrug.

Mara let the magic lapse. "I must concur with Janelle and Terran. There is something peculiar about that man."

"I will see if I can glean information from his thoughts as soon as possible," Nara said, tapping a finger against her forehead.

"Me too," Danica agreed. "Celes might be able to use some kind of witchcraft to find out for sure if he's a demon."

"The rest of us will keep watch," Venaru said.

"We should inform the Commander," Bear suggested.

"Absolutely," Danica agreed.

Janelle said, "His schedule this evening will be too restrictive to allow him much room for mischief."

Venaru stood and said, "I will have opportunity to observe him shortly. His group will seek my knowledge in open-handed fighting shortly after eating."

"You're back to teaching, now?" Janelle asked.

"I was not until a few moments ago. I will inform the Commander, as I must inform him of my readiness to return to my duties."

"I'll go with you," Bear said, "I have a student who shows tremendous promise that I want to talk to him about."

"Mara and I will attempt to seek out demons with our magic," Terran stated.

"Then Janelle can take Celes and me to see her little one," Danica happily declared.

Janelle's stern expression immediately softened into one of a mother about to show off her pride and joy. The three women were soon on their way to Janelle's home.

Catching up the crystal spinning over the map, Ashley shook her head and said, "There are no demons anywhere in the immediate area."

"There are certainly goblins. It reminded me of the hordes in the wood at..." Marlena trailed off, not really wanting to think about the assault on the Forge that she had reluctantly agreed to join in order to counter Zoraster's influence in the area.

"We should concentrate on the demons. Men with swords can counter goblins — they will not fare so well against hellspawn." Seeing the concerned expressions on the faces of Marlena and Andrea, Ashley added, "We'll make sure to tell Devan that she has our help if she needs it."

Andrea turned to Ashley and asked, "Should we scry around the Forge, to see where the demon is now?"

"I don't want to risk active scrying on a demon so powerful, and I hate to use another of the scrying beads right now. We only have a limited number until we can gather up some demon slime from another of Meckataur's host."

Marlena patted Andrea on the hand and said, "Danica and Celes will be fine. They're far more powerful than any of us alone, a terror when they're together, and with friends who've fought at their side before. They won't take any risks, and I'm sure they'll come for the two of you if they plan to attack the demon."