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Loose Threads
One Hundred Sixteen
Year One Hundred and Twenty Three
The balor sat, lost in thought as plans and counter plans unfolded in his mind. He was unsure how long he’d sat there but eventually he realized he was being watched and roused himself enough to turn and look at the doorway to the room in his castle where he’d chosen to rest and think. There stood a marilith, watching him with neutral eyes. She was larger than most of her kind and wore all six of her swords in paired scabbards on her back. The balor rose, his eyes narrowing. “I do not know you,” he rumbled. “Name yourself.”
“I am Varasileth. My master would speak with you. I have been instructed to escort you to him.”
The balor frowned. Due to the vagaries of the Abyss, there were more balors than marliths and he’d done his best to keep track of the ones he knew of, including this one. “I have heard your name. You serve Prince Demogorgon.”
Varasileth nodded. “And do you wish to keep my master waiting or shall I tell him that you refuse his invitation?”
The balor thought for a second. “I will come. Why does he want to meet with me?”
Varasileth raised her eyebrows as her serpent lower body slowly twisted into endless coils behind her. “Does your mistress tell you everything about the orders she gives you, or does she sometimes say go here and do this without explanation?”
The balor chuckled. “As you can guess, usually she does not seek my opinion on her instructions or elaborate on why I am doing her will. Take me to the prince.”
“May I open a gate inside your home or would you prefer we go outside first?”
Security was always paramount and gates were almost always of a two way design. “Outside.” The marilith turned and slithered towards the front of the castle, the balor following behind.
Once outside, Varasileth cast a gate spell. Once the gate was open, her torso twisted on her snake portion to face him. “We are going to Toril, where my master waits for you.”
The balor frowned. “That is unusual. Do you know why we are meeting there?”
“I believe it is because it is harder for your mistress to witness events there.”
The balor’s eyebrows rose. “This is becoming more interesting by the moment. Where does this gate go?”
“We will come out in a cavern where my master awaits us. Do you wish to proceed first or shall I?” The challenge was loud and clear in her tone.
The balor snorted and the flames limning his body flared as he strode through the gate unhesitatingly. The cavern on the other side was immense and shrouded in darkness and he paused as Varasileth joined him, the gate closing. “Where is the prince?”
Varasileth vanished as she teleported and, an instant later, the heavenly fire took the balor in the back. He screamed as it ate into him and then raced over his body to overcome his flames as it engulfed him in a Celestial inferno. He fell forward, his body convulsing as he screamed as fast as he could draw breath. The flames continued burning after the screaming finally stopped. Finally, the flames died down and vanished, leaving behind a pile of fine ash.
Iain checked the stand and nodded at the emerald holding the balor’s soul. “And that’s that.” He looked at Varasileth, where she waited nearby. “That was very well done and thank you.”
She bobbed her head in a bow. “My lord, it was my pleasure.” Her teeth glittered in her smile. “It is good to see that I am not the only one you used this on.” She paused when Julia, Matilda and Rhea came forward. Julia and Matilda were carrying a large tub between them and all three had shovels. They put the tub down and began filling it with the balor’s ashes.
As they worked, Ling and Natalie dragged up two large hide bladders with wooden necks and plugs, a large ladle, what looked like a small wooden oar and a large funnel. They fitted the funnel into the neck of one of the bladders while Dabria and Maria appeared with buckets of fresh cow’s blood that were dumped into the tub. Maria took both buckets and left while Dabria took the oar and began mixing the blood and the ashes. Maria returned with more buckets of blood until the tub was almost full.
Then Ling held the funnel while Natalie used the ladle to fill the bladders with the mix until the tub was empty. A decanter of water was used to rinse the tub, the oar and the shovels. Once done, the rinse went into the bladders too. Then the bladders were plugged as the bucket, the funnels, the oar and the shovels were taken away to be burned.
Ling looked at Iain. “My lord, we are ready.”
Iain shifted to his dragon form and laid down, opening his mouth. The first bladder was laid in his open mouth and he bit down once to puncture it before swallowing it. The second bladder followed.
Varasileth watched him shift back to his elf form. “My lord, you have his soul. Why ensure nothing of him remains?”
“I’m being thorough. I don’t intend him to ever return, but sometimes things happen and his ashes might be somehow useful in either determining what happened to him or where he is. Now it can’t become an issue.” He looked around at the others. “Thank you very much for your help, ladies.”
“You are very welcome, my lord,” Matilda said. She gestured and the others picked up their equipment and left.
Iain pulled the emerald from the capture stand and touched it with his fingertip. He pulled a blue globe from it and shoved it into his arm. “That’ll keep until I can get back to the storage computer in my vault. The last thing I want right now is some demon’s raw memories running loose in my head. There’s no telling what trouble those might stir up.”
The marilith smiled. “My lord, what will you do with his soul?”
“Helesatra.”
The sun elf lich came into the chamber. “Varasileth wants to come with us. Can you carry us both?”
“I can if she rides you, my lord.”
Iain held out his arm. “Varasileth.” The demoness grabbed his wrist and flashed to smoke the green of the scales of her lower body and flowed onto his arm.
Helesatra grasped his hand before he could lower the arm and cast teleport. They exited just outside a large, crumbling stone ruin. The ground was soft and squishy beneath their feet. The air was fetid and dank with the stench of rotting vegetation. “Varasilith.” Smoke poured from his arm to form her. “This is an old laboratory in Miyeritar.” He sniffed the air. “I don’t smell the yuan-ti very strongly. Maybe they haven’t returned yet.”
Helesatra was alertly surveying their surroundings. “After they returned the third time, we chased them a very long distance from here, my lord. They will still return, but they will be cautious for some time yet.” She glanced at him. “And in the meantime, it doesn’t mean that other things haven’t moved in in their place.”
“True.” A whisper of metal on metal made him look back at Varasilith as she drew all six of her swords. “Good idea.”
Keeping alert, they headed into the building and down a ramp, Helesatra taking the lead. She led them down several levels and stopped in front of a metal door that looked like it had been recently cleaned and oiled. It was set in a stone wall but parts of it had flaked away to reveal it was a veneer laid over metal the same oily red color as the door. She held her hand back behind her and Iain dropped a key into her upraised palm. The half fiend sun elf unlocked the door and pushed it open. She peered inside. “Nothing has changed, my lord. Let me light up the room and then Varasilith and I can stand sentry while you work.” She slipped into the room and light flared several times, each time the light coming from the room getting a little brighter. “Enter, my lord.”
The room had been cleaned and was an empty cube thirty feet on a side, all of which was the same reddish brown metal as the door and front wall. Iain looked at Varasilith as Helesatra moved to stand next to the doorway. “I’m going to open a portal. Do not enter it. I’m not sure what will happen if you do.”
The marilith frowned. “Why are we here, my lord?”
“This room was the reason this building was constructed by the dark elves,” Iain said as he mentally reviewed what he had to do. “This room is all that is left of a sarrukh research facility, which makes it somewhere around twenty four thousand years old. It was part of a series of facilities that they built while studying the magic traditions of the primitive races around them while they were compiling the Golden Skins of the World Serpent, which one day will be rediscovered and the artifacts will be collectively called the Nether Scrolls.” He gestured around the room. “This unremarkable place is made of a metal that nothing seems to be able to damage and, more importantly, it is magically impenetrable. Once the door is closed, nothing that happens in here can be seen by any sort of scrying or divination, including that from a full deity.” He grinned. “If we could figure out how to safely move it, I’d relocate it back to the caves in the valley because it would make an incredible panic room for our children and other valuables.” He took a step forward. “Please close the door.”
Varasilith pulled the door shut and moved to the other side of the door from Helesatra as Iain opened a portal. The marilith’s eyes narrowed. “Why does that feel so wrong?”
“You’re a lich and a demoness,” Iain replied absently as he moved towards the portal and double checked it. “This portal opens up in the Lands of the Dead and neither undead nor demons can safely go there and return.”
Varasilith hissed. “Why are you doing this?”
“I can safely go and return.” He smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
“Take as long as you need to, my lord,” Helesatra said. “I will be here when you return.”
Varasilith glared at the sun elf. “I will be here too, my lord,” she snarled.
“Good.” Iain managed not to laugh at the two of them as he stepped through the portal and it closed behind him. He was in an alley across the street from Jane’s Eatery. He checked the area before heading inside. There were a few customers there in various booths, but fortunately, his booth was empty. “Good day, Matilda!”
Matilda honored him by removing the cigarette from her mouth before speaking. “Good day, necromancer. After your last visit, I didn’t think you’d come back here again.”
Iain smiled. “I want you to contact your superior among the Powers. I want to talk to them. I’ll be at my table.”
“They are not at your beck and call, necromancer.”
“They’re pissed at me, remember? They’ll come.”
Matilda took a deep puff on her cigarette. “I don’t want any fighting here, necromancer.”
“I don’t intend to fight anyone.” Iain headed for his table. “You might want to give them the same warning when they get here.”
One of the other patrons, an older looking elf female, looked curiously at Iain. “Why are you speaking to Matilda that way?”
“She’s an agent for the Powers and reports to them, so she can get in contact with them for me.”
The patron looked past him at Matilda. “You whore for them?” She rose haughtily, spat on the counter that stood between her and Matilda, and stalked out of the diner. Two others followed her out.
Iain tossed a shrug in Matilda’s direction and headed for his booth. To his surprise, she followed him to stand outside his booth. “You don’t just announce that sort of thing,” she hissed in a low voice.
Iain placed his hands flat on the tabletop and spoke in a normal tone of voice as he replied. “Let’s do a quick evaluation. Did you or did you not betray my family to the Powers when they came here looking for me?”
Matilda folded her arms and blew smoke in his direction. “I had orders to report their presence.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” Iain said evenly. “As far as I’m concerned, you betrayed my family to our enemies. Right now I’d like to locate the closest door and shove your ass in it and not give a damn about where it goes.” He smiled coldly. “Actually, what I’d really like to do is take you back to the land of the living so I can almost kill you several times until you learn that you don’t do that sort of thing with me.” She took a step backwards. “But I’m not going to do anything to you right now. In part it’s because you’re just a flunky and that’s all you’ll ever be. You were following orders. Of course, you ever do that to me again and I will rethink that decision.” His eyes went flat. “So, in the interests of your health staying exactly the way it is right now, do what I told you to do and contact your handler for me.”
Matilda shook her head. “You’re crazy, necromancer.”
“I’ve heard that before. If it’s true, and I don’t think that it is, at least I’m insane and functional.” He leaned back. “Now go report me.”
***
The door to Jane’s slammed open so hard that the bell almost came off its hook when the door hit the end of the door closer’s arm. It was a team of four, three men and one woman. All wore bright silvery armor with a raised crest of a stylized balance on it and all carried two handed swords.
The woman and two of the men spread out, obviously blocking the exit, while the last man, a dark skinned, brown eyed man with a bald, tattooed head, stalked towards Iain’s booth. He gave Iain a savage grin. “You will come with us.”
“No, I won’t,” Iain said calmly. “You will sit down and we’ll discuss why you’re going to bump this up to a higher level. If you don’t, I’ll break this emerald,” he showed the soul gem in his right palm, “and someone will lose out on a very valuable prize that they’d like to have.”
“Souls are common here,” the man sneered.
“Demon souls are not,” Iain countered. “This is a powerful demon and I want to bargain it for a release for my people from the tortures the Powers have inflicted on them out of spite and anger at me.”
“That is impossible. Demons cannot come here.”
“No, demons don’t come here. And they don’t come here because, if they do, they become subject to the rules of the Lands since they are created with a dead soul that never went through here. Because of that, any demon will fight to destruction to keep from being sent here. And their rarity makes them very valuable to the Powers.”
“And if the Powers refuse to negotiate with you?”
Iain shrugged. “Then I’ll leave here, with or without the permission of anyone, and I’ll toss the soul into a door and it won’t be able to bother me again.”
“Show me.” Iain opened up his hand and the man stared at it for several seconds. His eyes rose to Iain’s. “That is a balor.”
Iain didn’t miss the sudden eagerness in the man’s eyes. “It is. I know his name, too, and his past.”
“How did you acquire it?”
Iain closed his hand. “Are we negotiating, and do you have the rank and power to make a final offer?” He didn’t smile at the suddenly frustrated look that appeared on the man’s face. “You didn’t attack me and I wish to try to reward you for your self-control. Therefore, if you hurry, I will wait until you return with a negotiator and I will deal with that negotiator first. If you don’t, I’ll wait a few hours and then I’ll simply talk to the first ranked one who arrives since now that you know, others will find out.”
“You’ll wait?”
“I’ll wait for a reasonable amount of time. Don’t forget I’m alive and I will get impatient eventually. What is your name?”
“I am Anyang Odinga.”
“Well, Mr. Odinga, I’ll wait here. You will have to take your guards with you so they don’t cause trouble with any potential negotiators.”
“I could take you to her,” Odinga observed.
“If I go with you, that could be taken by other potential negotiators as granting exclusivity to your superior, which I am not doing before any negotiations have taken place. It means that if your superior doesn’t react within a reasonable time frame to me, then this must not really be important to her. If that’s the case then there’s nothing I can do about that and I’ll simply talk to someone else. Once that time is up, she no longer gets any priority with me and, even if she shows up late, I will continue talking to whomever I happen to meet. If those negotiations fail, she’ll still have to wait her turn if others came to me before she did.”
“You’ll wait ten hours.”
Iain raised an eyebrow. “I just threatened the owner of this place. There is no way I’m letting her serve me food after that and I didn’t bring food with me. Four hours.”
Odinga scowled heavily. “Eight hours.”
“Six.”
“Seven hours.”
Iain looked thoughtful. “Very well. I will wait exactly seven hours or twenty-five thousand and two hundred seconds.” He smiled. “The clock starts, now.” In the corner of his vision a timer appeared with the number 25200 and began ticking down to zero.
Without another word Odinga turned and headed for the door. He gestured to his companions and they followed him out the door. Iain watched him go and leaned back in his seat to get as comfortable as he could while he waited.
***
She, it turned out, was a warden archon, a bear anthropomorphic wearing plate mail armor and a silver collar and bracers, which indicated her rank among the archons. She stalked into the diner, closely followed by Odinga and his people and stopped. Her ears went flat as she surveyed the room and the four other people who’d shown up to try and negotiate with Iain, all of whom were sitting at different tables with their escorts. Odinga leaned close to her and nodded towards Iain where he sat alone. Her ears came back up as she peered at him.
The archon strode up the aisle and stopped in front of Iain’s table. “You are the one I am here to bargain with?”
Iain nodded. “You’re here with Odinga, so yes, you get to be first. I told the others they had to wait until either we had spoken or you were late.”
“Am I late?”
“You still have nearly fifteen minutes, so no.” Iain used his foot to shove the bench on the other side of the table back to make room for the archon’s greater than human frame. “Please, sit.”
Up close, the warden archon smelled of female bear, leather, sweat, oil and metal as she slid onto the bench seat. “Odinga has told me what you wish to bargain for. Let me see what you wish to bargain with.”
Iain placed the emerald down on the table, halfway between the two of them. “This.” The archon reached out a hand and Iain smiled. “If you touch my property, then you accept it and my terms.”
The archon’s hand froze in midair as her ears went flat again. “I refuse your terms.”
“Then do not touch my property. You can assess everything you can learn from it without touching it.”
The archon’s muzzle wrinkled slightly to show her canines as she pulled her hand back. “Tell me about this balor.”
“His name is Wendonai and he has been an especially bad boy. He is one of the Chosen of Lolth and is the original primary and ongoing vector for the introduction of demonic blood into the dark elf and now drow bloodlines. He was instrumental in corrupting the dark elves to her worship. And he’s ruined countless lives and turned too many away from any hope of goodness and instead to give up their souls to the demons, adding measurably to their ranks.”
“Why offer him to us?”
“You will punish him for his actions. You and yours will make sure he never returns, which will benefit everyone except his mistress. It will slightly weaken her too, which will help my mistresses and make them happier since his evil will nevermore plague the universe. And someday, you might be able to save his soul, the soul that once belonged to a mortal and send it where it should have gone, which will make things a little less wrong.”
“And who do you serve?”
“I serve Mielikki and Eilistraee. They have honored me by allowing me to be their priest and priestess.”
The archon’s eyes widened. “You serve those goddesses?”
“They gave me a chance to prove myself to them and I repay that opportunity with my loyalty and love.”
“You are not good.”
Iain shook his head. “I work to be good, which my goddesses allow me to do. The fact that I have to work to be good just means I have to be more alert to doing good than someone who is naturally good. Most importantly, I am not evil, and I have excellent motivation to continue to strive to be as good as someone like me can be.”
“What is that motivation?”
“Love.”
“Explain.”
“No.” The archon growled and Iain smiled. “If you want to learn my personal life, come by my valley when you have some free time and we’ll see if we can become friends. Otherwise, my private life will remain private.”
The warden archon laughed and reached out to take the emerald. “I accept your terms and your offer, although it may be a while before I can visit.” Her ears flicked. “I am Drakanilee.”
“I am Iain Grey and I’ll be living where I am for at least the next few centuries.” Iain leaned back. “I’d like to have Odinga come over here so I can shake his hand and learn his aura. I may have another soul or two to trade and he has earned the right to be my go between with you, if you will allow it.”
Drakanilee cocked her head sideways in curiosity as her ears rotated to focus on him. “Why him?”
“He was smart enough, even though excited to take me into custody, to talk instead of attacking to see if there could be a peaceful resolution. He may make a good candidate for promotion to lantern archon someday and I’d like to encourage that kind of behavior.”
Drakanilee smiled amusedly at him. “I think he would make a good candidate for promotion as well, and I have known him far longer than you have. I will send him over and he can serve as a messenger between us.” She rose to her feet and looked down at Iain. “I will ensure no more of your family is hurried through by altering their perception of the flow of time, or in any other manner, while they are here. Will you continue to try and steal them from us?”
Iain smiled. “You like the game and I want the people I love back with me. Of course I will.”
She laughed and put her hands on her hips as she faced the others. “We have reached an agreement,” she announced triumphantly. “You may leave.”
***
Year One Hundred and Twenty Eight
Helesatra entered the room and stopped in front of Iain. “You wished to speak with me, my lord?”
Iain glanced up from making an entry in his journal. “I do. Please hang tight for just a few minutes while I finish this so I don’t lose my train of thought.”
“I await your pleasure, my lord.”
Finally Iain touched the journal, instantly drying all the ink in its pages. He closed the book and slid it to the side before focusing his attention on the half fiend sun elf lich. “In three days, you and I are going on a trip into the Vyshaan Empire.”
Helesatra’s eyes began to glow golden. “Are we going to be visiting some of my family, my lord?”
“I have arranged a meeting with your maternal grandfather, Morefin. However, at this time, he is not to be harmed. Do you understand and agree to that?”
Helesatra hissed softly as the soft glow became a blinding glare of golden light. “My lord, why are we meeting with the Emperor?”
“He is the only one who has the requisite knowledge to summon Dragel. He’s going to summon Dragel for us. And Dragel is our target on this little expedition. I’ve got a special sword for you to carry and, if you behave, you’ll get to chop your sire into flinders so that I can capture his soul.”
“Will you also bargain his soul to the Powers in the Lands of the Dead?”
“That’s the best way to ensure we never have to deal with him again, Helesatra. My first goal is to ensure you’re safe from the shit your grandfather tried to shovel on you.”
“And what of the Emperor,” she asked in a voice filled with a dreadful eagerness. “Once Dragel is imprisoned, we will have no use for him.”
“You will get your revenge on him, perhaps later this year, Helesatra, but there are a few things that I need to do to prepare for that moment. That means Morefin will be returned to the palace and his memory wiped so he won’t remember what we’ve done.”
“And if I refuse to allow the Emperor safe passage as you request, I will not be allowed to destroy my sire, will I?”
Iain nodded. “That is correct. I’ll make sure there are decent recordings of Dragel’s destruction, but you will be specifically ordered not to be involved or to interfere. If I have to, I will order you to stand in one spot and perform no magic or use any other ability until I release you by telling you face to face what you will and will not be doing during that time.” He leaned back in his chair. “My plan, if you follow it, will allow you to kill him and several more of your relatives and, eventually completely neutralize the empire, and you’ll get to do it in such a way that your grandfather’s spirit will be screaming so loudly in fury we’ll be able to easily hear it. I was even thinking of telling him just how absolute his failure was before you killed him.”
The glow faded from Helesatra’s eyes. “You dangle very enticing bait in front of me, my lord.”
Iain frowned. “Have you been picking up my sayings too?”
She smiled slowly. “Perhaps a little.”
“Are you going to nibble at the bait?”
“No, my lord. I trust you and I am going to do as you wish and allow the emperor safe passage, for now.” She paused for a second. “May I ask a question, my lord?”
“Sure.”
“If we had met before my death, I had asked you for help and you had decided that there was a good reason to give it, would you have done everything for me that you have done?”
“With those circumstances, yes, I would have.”
She gave him a wistful look. “I wish I’d known you before my death. Dying to save my soul was not my first choice and I think that, if I had known you before my death, I might not have had to die to be saved.”
“It’s possible, but there are no guarantees and you know that. It’s highly likely that I would have refused your request for help. Of course, you’re pretty, intelligent and strong willed. I’d have been interested in you as a person.”
“And if I had become clan?”
“You are clan now, Helesatra, and I would do pretty much exactly what I have done for you now.”
“Are you doing this just because I am clan?”
“No You’ve had a shitty life and none of it was your fault. Sometimes revenge is all you can get, but I’ll help you get what I can. Perhaps, in the end, there will also be a little justice, but that’s not something I can guarantee.”
“I will accept what you can get me, my lord. I will also stand ready in three days.”
“Good.” Iain rose. “Come with me and I’ll introduce you to the sword you’ll be using for this.” He smiled. “Ok, that sounds like it’s self aware and it’s not.” He shook his head. “Come along.”
“Yes, my lord.”
***
Morefin laid, sleeping, on the cot with Liadan kneeling next to it. She was pressing her fingertips to the sides of his head and her eyes were intent on him as she worked. Iain was fascinated to hear her humming bits and pieces of rock songs he’d been playing recently. She pulled her hands back and stood. “My lord, he is ready. He will only vaguely remember tonight’s events as fragments of a dream and, if you do as you plan and remove him before we deal with the pit fiend, he will never know the fate of his patron.” She glanced down at her victim. “Are you aware he has a second patron that he is unaware of?”
“Malkazid? I’m aware of his influence among the sun elves of Vyshaantar and elsewhere.”
She nodded. “Yes, my lord. He once saw the fallen solar as he truly is but his memories were rewritten to make him believe it was just a quick hallucination.”
“If it becomes necessary to deal with him too, well, I have some plans.”
Liadan flashed a smile. “You always have plans, my lord. It is something that I admire and respect since it is the reason you and Kelvin were able to defeat me when I attacked him.” Her smile faded. “I will remain in touch with Morefin’s mind and I will selectively edit what he sees so that the protective circle and other items are not consciously visible, as you have requested.”
“Thank you. When the pit fiend arrives, escort Morefin from the chamber so he stays safe.”
“Julia will do so, my lord. Eirian has instructed me to remain with you in case you need our aid as I am one of the most powerful of your undead harem.”
“Well, thank you.” Iain took a moment to examine the floor one last time. He wanted to leave nothing to chance and the protective circle that would prevent Dragel from fleeing or attacking had been carved into the floor and the carvings had been filled with silver. Then a sheet of glassteel had been laid over the whole thing to prevent accidents. Helesatra was there, wearing adamantine chainmail armor that had been made for her true form and carrying the sword he’d given her along with an adamantine shield that matched the armor. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, my lord. I remember your admonition not to engage until you release me to.”
“Liadan, wake him up.”
Morefin’s breathing changed and he sat up, rubbing his eyes. He yawned and stood.
Liadan looked at Iain. “You may begin, my lord.”
Iain stepped forward. “Your Imperial Majesty!”
Morefin looked blankly at Iain for a moment before his eyes sharpened. “Captain, what is it?”
Iain gestured towards Helesatra. “Now that we have Princess Helesatra, it’s time to summon Dragel and turn the tide of the war, Your Majesty.”
A triumphant smile spread across Morefin’s face as he looked at Helesatra. “Well done, colonel. Are you landed?”
Iain accepted the implied promotion without comment. “No, Your Majesty.”
Morefin grinned. “You are now, colonel.” A table had been set up with everything that would be needed to summon a demon and Morefin turned to it. “Keep a close eye on my granddaughter.” He glanced back at her before beginning to arrange things on the table to his liking. “I don’t suppose she’s still a virgin. Do you think she is, colonel?”
Helesatra gave Iain a broad smile and a small shake to her head.
“No, my liege, I am certain that she is not.”
“That’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. Fortunately, Lord Dragel is most interested in her soul and not the condition of the flesh that houses it.” He grimaced. “Are you, by chance, a mage, colonel?”
“I am, Your Majesty.”
“My son was supposed to help me with this, but he was killed by the assassins sent by Keltormir. You will assist me.”
Iain was pretty sure he’d rather have a high colonic enema than get anywhere near Morefin, but if this is what it took to get Dragel within arm’s reach to protect Helesatra, then he would do it. He tried to sound enthusiastic. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
The summoning took nearly three hours. Sorrel set up a small table with drinks and snacks for Morefin when he started yelling for refreshments.
Finally, the spell was complete and the gate opened in the center of the protective circle. A minute passed, and then another. Iain glanced at Morefin. “Your Majesty?”
“He was not expecting our call. He will come,” the sun elf said confidently.
“Your confidence in me is good to hear,” the pit fiend said as it stepped through the gate and into the circle. He bowed to Morefin. “It has been some time since you have called me to your delightful world, Your Majesty. Will you provide me with a nice elf girl that I may enjoy?”
“I have something better than a simple wench for you, Lord Dragel,” Morefin announced happily.
Helesatra’s eyes began to smolder gold, but otherwise she didn’t move.
Dragel was a typical pit fiend, his twelve foot height towering over everyone else in the room. He was bulkier than most, rippling with muscle, and Iain estimated his weight to be half again the normal seven hundred to eight hundred pounds that most pit fiends massed. Waves of flame licked over his massive scales and tightly folded wings and his tail twitched in time with the rise and fall of his massive chest. He carried a heavy looking flanged mace that glowed with an inner light.
He wore only a chainmail loincloth and his fangs gleamed as he gave a mocking laugh. “The only other thing that would interest me regarding you, Your Majesty, is if you found my gift.” Behind him, the gate silently closed.
Morefin grinned triumphantly and pointed at Helesatra. “Here is the princess, Lord Dragel. She led us a merry chase but the colonel here captured her and brought her to me only tonight. I, of course, hastened to fulfill my side of our bargain and give you her, body and soul.”
Dragel looked closely at Helesatra for the first time and cocked his head curiously. “She looks remarkably unrestrained for a prisoner, Morefin.”
“I am here of my own free will,” Helesatra announced.
“Then you are even more of a fool than Morefin is,” Dragel said with an ugly laugh. “Why would you ever come to me willingly?”
“Julia,” Iain said calmly as he drew his pistol from its holster. She poured from his arm, forming behind Morefin, grabbed the elven emperor and raced from the chamber as Iain raised the weapon. At the end of its muzzle, a ball of golden light glittered just under Iain’s eye as he aimed and fired five rapid shots.
As they passed through the globe, each round became Celestial in nature. The first shattered Dragel’s right knee, the second his left and the next two rounds destroyed his shoulder joints while the last round shattered his jaw as he started to twist from the first four shots. The Celestial imbued magic did extra damage but, more importantly, prevented him from regenerating the injuries. The broken jaw kept him from casting spells.
The pit fiend fell backwards, hissing in fury through his shattered mouth. His back contacted the mystical barrier created by the protective circle and there was a thunderclap and a flash of bright golden light that smashed him forward, screaming at the sudden agony that raced up his spine. The blast threw him face first into the front of the circle and thunder cracked and light flared again, this time throwing him backwards to the floor, his mace clattering away from him across the floor.
Iain watched impassively as he holstered his pistol. “He’s all yours, Helesatra.”
Her sword burst into golden light as she strode forward. “Why did you cripple him?”
“He’s here for your soul. You are mine and I will protect you. I see no reason to give him even the chance of winning.” Iain smiled thinly.
The glow in her eyes died away as she looked at him with an odd expression on her face. “Thank you, my lord. Your words are,” she hesitated and turned back to Dragel as her eyes burst into flames. “I cannot say how your words make me feel, my lord, but I can now end the threat my sire represents for all of the souls he has not managed to corrupt yet.” A ball of flame manifested in front of Dragel’s eyes and slammed towards Helesatra as she stepped inside the circle. She swatted it aside with slight thrust of her shield. Her mouth shaped a feral grin under her helmet as she raised her sword. “Goodbye Father.”
***
Iain shifted back to his elf form. “Would someone please get me some water or lemonade?” He made a face. “Hell, a bucket of warm shit would be fine right now. It has to taste better than Dragel did.”
Helesatra grabbed a bottle of wine from the table Sorrel had laid out and tossed it to him. “Here, my lord.”
Iain pulled the cork out of the bottle with his teeth, spat it on the floor and upended the bottle in his mouth, draining it. “Important rule to remember: always burn devils and demons to ash before eating them, if only to prevent projectile vomiting.” He tossed the bottle away to shatter on the floor.
Ling and Matilda were packing up the table of magical components. The Cheetit’s eyes twinkled with amusement as her ears flicked. “My lord, do you intend to eat many more of them?”
“I do not, but that is a rule to still keep in mind if I ever have to again.” He took a bottle of juice from the table and drained it too. “Ashes taste like bloody mud. That’s bad enough but it’s infinitely better than raw pit fiend.” He looked at Helesatra. The half fiend sun elf lich was standing motionless. She was soaked with blood and the other fluids that came from a pit fiend to the point where she looked like she’d been diving in a swimming pool full of it. “Hey,” he called softly.
Her head turned to look at him. “It brought me no solace.”
Iain nodded. “I know. Revenge has never brought me any, either. It tends to leave me empty, like I was like this bottle and dumped out.”
“Then why seek it?”
“My reasons are simple. If I stop whoever hurt me, they won’t hurt anyone else or, more importantly, me ever again.” He put the empty bottle back on the table. “But that’s for later. At the time I’m getting revenge, all I feel is the almost irresistible urge to destroy. Most of the time, I try to keep from indulging in that urge.”
“Is it so you can remain as good as you can?”
“That and I’m concerned that in my massive orgy of destruction I’d accidentally destroy something I’d later regret.” Iain put a hand on her shoulder. “Dragel had claimed your soul and I’m certain he’s corrupted and hurt a lot of people over the countless years of his existence. You helped put paid to him and he won’t hurt anyone else ever again. You did a good thing.”
She was looking at his hand. “I have never liked being touched by people,” her eyes rose to meet his. “But I like your touch and I have found that it is always comforting. Is it because I am dead and you are strong in death magic?”
Matilda rumbled a laugh. “It is because he is alive and you are a woman,” the White Tigress said. “And it is mostly because he is Iain and his touch brings all women comfort, if he is willing to touch them.” She smiled past Helesatra at Iain. “My lord’s hugs are even more powerful than a simple touch, but the simple touch of his still has power.”
“I remember that one of his goddesses sought his touch,” Helesatra said thoughtfully. “And it seemed to bring her much comfort.”
Matilda snickered. “And they come back for more intimate touches,” she said suggestively. She grinned. “I would too.”
Iain chuckled. “And if you were alive and I gave you what I give them, you’d be a completely melted puddle of kitty.”
“And you’d be dead again,” Ling noted.
Matilda’s ears canted sideways. “But what a way to die.”
Iain shook his head. “Helesatra, please take me back home. When I start flirting with dead women, it’s time for me to get laid.”
Helesatra grasped his hand as she cast teleport and they vanished.
***
Year One Hundred and Thirty
The sphere was a foot in diameter, translucent and filled with a pale pink light. Composed of energy, it hung unmoving in the air. Iain watched it closely from across the lab as he cast a magic missile spell. It produced a single bolt of light that shot towards the sphere, into it and froze a third of the way through it.
Iain walked over to it and examined it closely before taking a finger and tracing around the outside of the sphere. The light changed color from pink to amber. Iain grasped the sphere as if it were solid and carried it to his workbench, where he clamped it into a vise. The vise was on a swivel and, for the next hour and a half, Iain rotated it into various positions and took careful measurements with some of the magical paraphernalia he used for his experiments.
Suddenly the sphere vanished and the magic bolt shot forward, taking Iain in the chest and knocking him backwards. He turned his fall into a breakfall and lay there for a second before rolling to his feet. A quick examination showed a burn through his shirt and a matching burn on his chest. He sighed and whacked himself in the forehead gently with a fist. “Dumbshit, you were lucky. You knew the holding spell would eventually expire and you went ahead and kept pointing that magic missile right at yourself. Do not let this become a habit.”
“You should not have been able to cast that spell.”
Iain spun, glowing balls of light appearing in his hands. He stared at the woman, who was watching him with an amused expression on her face. She was a little taller than he was, with waist length hair that held every color in the rainbow. She was wearing a light blue tunic and darker blue pants that did nothing to detract from the inhumanly blue brightness of her eyes. The balls of energy vanished. “Would you like some cookies? I’ve got gingersnaps and peanut butter cookies.”
“I would like some cookies,” she said with a smile. “And I would like to try both of those.”
Iain opened his stasis cabinet and pulled out two plates. He turned toward his desk with them. “To what do I owe the honor of your visit, Lady Mystryl?”
“You have intrigued me for a while, Iain Grey.” She glided forward and sat gracefully in his chair. “Some of your magic does not make use of the Weave, instead using the raw magic that you should not be able to reach. It immediately caught my attention, as did the fact that you have not used that magic in any way that I would immediately disapprove of.”
Iain put the cookies down in front of her and headed for the cabinet to get drinks. “I would hope that, upon reflection, you still don’t disapprove of what I’ve been doing.”
She laughed. “So far, that has proven to be the case. As a test, I removed your ability to use the Weave when you cast that magic missile. How did you succeed?”
Iain frowned and did a quick review. “Huh. I store magic internally in case I end up in a null magic zone or a world with magic levels so low that I can’t escape it. I used those reserves to power the spell. I didn’t realize it because I set things up to automatically transition to my reserves so I have magic in an emergency without having to think about it, and it worked perfectly.” He reached out with his twee to Eilistraee and Mielikki as he carried pitchers of fresh milk and lemonade back to his desk. This is not a request that either of you come here right now. This is an alert that Mystryl is visiting me, reasons unknown. She seems to be simply curious about my truewizard magic.
Once again, Mielikki said, my instructions for visiting goddesses are the same. Make sure she is completely satisfied with you.
He felt rather than heard Eilistraee laughing at Mielikki’s comment. Understood.
She watched him pour glasses of both drinks and place them in front of her. “You are not afraid of me?”
“Honestly, a little, but you’re not cruel, just a bit whimsical sometimes.” He smiled. “If I’d done something to upset you, I don’t think we’d be having as friendly a conversation as we are. If at all possible, I’d like to keep your visit friendly. There are some things you could do to me that I could never heal, after all.”
She laughed. “That is true. I am a little concerned about the magic you do involving time.”
Iain blinked. “Ma’am, I have not done anything involving time travel except the initial jump two hundred years in the past that I did when I arrived here. I realize it created a new branch in the timeline, but I’ve never been on this world and so my arrival would have branched the timeline in any case. But I am not planning to go further back or back and forth and I won’t unless someone like you orders me to.”
“You’re afraid of time travel?”
“Indeed I am. I won’t lie and say I haven’t done it, on other worlds, but time travel is like sticking your head inside the area of effect of a blade barrier. You know you’re going to get hurt, the only question is how much. I also realize that my knowledge of the future is getting less and less useful with the passage of every second since I haven’t quietly sunk into history and it’s only going to get worse if I do what I’m planning to.” He settled down in his guest’s chair. “But I have no plans to do anything as boneheaded as Karsus tried, in the future that I know.”
“Who is Karsus and what did he do?”
Iain took a deep breath. “First, this is roughly the year minus nine thousand in Dale Reckoning, a system of timekeeping that will be set up in,” he smiled, “nine thousand years or so. But it’s a convenient way of telling you when things happened in the history I know.”
Mystryl nodded. “I understand.”
“All times are rough estimates,” Iain warned. “But in five thousand years, a human kingdom called Netheril would have come into existence. They are extremely capable mages and use the Weave in ways that had not been seen since the dawn times and races like the sarrukh. One of the reasons they became so powerful and so quickly is because they found a copy of the Golden Skins of the World Serpent. Later historians would even rename the Skins as the Nether Scrolls because they believed Netheril had created them. The Netherese did incredible things, and like the incredible things that Tom Riddle did, many of them were terrible. Some of the things they did caused a war to start between them and the phaerimm, who had stayed underground since driven there by the sarrukh some twenty thousand years ago.”
“Three thousand years after Netheril got started and roughly four hundred years before the Dale Reckoning began, Karsus, the most powerful mage Netheril had ever produced, cast a spell that was designed to turn him into a god by stealing the power of an already existing god and transforming him with it.”
“Did this spell work?”
Iain nodded. “To an extent, it did, and it caused complete catastrophe because that world’s Mystryl was his victim.”
Mystryl’s eyes went wide. “Me?”
“That event, if it is going to happen here, has not yet happened to you, so the answer is no. It was another goddess of magic who was named Mystryl and it was somewhere else. Karsus was not ready to maintain the Weave. That Mystryl still had a remnant of her power and, with it, she removed Karsus’ access to the Weave, at the cost of her existence. Later she was reborn as Mystra and, as a result of what had happened, put some new limits on just how powerful spells could be.”
“Your knowledge and power are very impressive. Why do you serve Eilistraee and Mielikki and not me?”
“Long story short, Lady Mystryl, Mielikki asked me to serve Eilistraee.”
“And the newcomer, Mielikki?”
“I love her.”
“Then she is very fortunate.” Mystryl rose. “Would you also consider serving me?”
“I don’t think I’m going to have the time to do so as well as either one of us would think I should, with everything else that’s going on in my life. Later, if you are still interested, you could ask again.”
She smiled. “I will. I will also speak with Mielikki and Eilistraee about you.”
“I hope they say nice things about me.”
“I believe they will. Thank you for the cookies, they were very good.”
“Would you like some to take with you?”
“I think not,” Mystryl said amusedly. “If I want more cookies, I’ll just return here.” She vanished.
Iain looked at the spot where she’d been for a moment. “Well, shit.” He sighed and shrugged. “You know, sometimes you just have to realize there’s nothing you can do about something and go on with life.” He started cleaning up from his guest. “And that’s what today’s little episode is.”
***
Year One Hundred and Thirty One
Theodora appeared. “I am sorry to disturb you, but are you receiving visitors at this time?”
Ygerna looked up from her book. As had been the case in her first pregnancy, she needed less and less sleep as time passed and, this time, she’d been awake for a few days. It made tracking the passage of time in her room sometimes difficult. “What time is it?” She carefully put the book aside. It was from the massed collections that Iain and the other members had assembled and was the diary of a moon elf duchess who had lived in Evermeet who had an unusually sharp political acumen and the rare ability to accurately detail it in her journal. She had been a courtier in the royal court and the machinations, both hers and those of others had made for interesting, if light, reading.
“It is 0112.”
Ygerna frowned slightly. “Who is it and why couldn’t it wait until after breakfast?”
“It is Emerald, from Iain’s undead harem. She says that she wishes to speak with you now and that it is the best time to avoid the other members of the household from discovering she is here and the plans she wishes to discuss with you on behalf of Iain.”
Ygerna’s frown deepened. “Eirian is the leader of Iain’s harem. Why isn’t she here instead?”
Theodora hesitated. “Emerald says she is here because she is more diplomatic than Eirian is.”
Ygerna chuckled softly as she remembered some of her conversations with the undead silver Dragoness. “It would be difficult to be less diplomatic than Eirian sometimes is. Tell her that I will see her in ten minutes, after I dress.” She stood, smoothing down the amber silk camisole top. It and matching boy shorts was all that she was wearing. “I am not meeting with her in this.”
“She says she will wait patiently and thanks you for agreeing to meet with her.”
Ygerna was headed for her bathroom. “Iain is not back yet, and I am definitely curious as to what plans he either left Emerald to discuss with me during his absence or has sent her here to discuss with me.”
The door closed behind her as Theodora smiled at the empty room. “As am I.”
Ten minutes later, Ygerna settled back down in her chair with a large cup of herbal tea made from the collection of herbs that Kasserine had brought with her. She’d changed into a dark brown linen tunic with matching pants that, other than with the inclusion of pockets, would have been perfectly suited for a noblewoman in any decent Sidhe court. “I will see Emerald now.” The door slid open and the green Dragoness silently entered the room. “Good morning, Emerald.”
Emerald bobbed her head in a bow. “Good morning,” she paused, “my queen.”
“Why do you address me as such?”
“You were my queen while I was alive and that is how I was taught to address you. While you are not the queen of the Order anymore, the habits one learns first die the hardest and,” she smiled, “in this case an amount of flattery can be useful.”
Ygerna chuckled. “What is it that you want me to do?”
“I would like you to do as my lord asks you to. My lord wishes you to come with me to where he is now, and he wishes you to bring your copy of the Grimoire of Danu with you.”
“Why?”
“I was not told, my queen.”
Ygerna nodded. “Could you speculate?”
“I could. However, that conversation is not one for here because this place is not secure against magical surveillance. Please, let us get the Grimoire and then my lord can explain to you what it is he wishes for you to do.”
Ygerna stood. “How long will I be gone?”
“On this side, you will be gone for only a few seconds. I do not know how long you will be away, but I do not think it will be for very long, perhaps a few days at most.” She smiled. “You will be with my lord the whole time and clothing is already available for you there.”
“Then let us go to the library that I may retrieve the Grimoire,” Ygerna said. “Theodora, would you prepare a pack for me that has some basic supplies along with some gold and silver coinage and have it waiting in the library?”
“Do you require weapons?”
“I have my sword and my magic. If I need a bow, I am sure Iain or an enemy will provide one for me to use.”
“The pack will be there,” Theodora reassured her.
Ygerna looked at Emerald. “Lead the way.”
Iain Grey
Harem
Ninhursag Grey - Elfqueen & maharani
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique Grey - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Archangel
Zareen - Nightmare
Sofia - Ria
Vanessa – Evangelion
Lucifer – Megami Sama
Ganieda – Snugglebunny Splice
Heather - Elfqueen
Marguerite – Unicorn
Scheherazade – Dread Wolf
Irena – Sanctuary Goth
Lynn – Dire Wolf
Rosemary – Mistoffeles
Dianthus – Elfqueen
Candace – Nurse Joy (kami)
Bellona – Dragonqueen
Elizabeth - Vampire
Outer Clan
Golden Cloud – equine unicorn
Arianrhod -Fey Goblin Female
Satellite Clan
74 male Goblins
89 female Goblins
Queendom / Outer Clan
73 Elves
Dionne - Elfqueen
Adrianna - Elfqueen
Heltu - Wet Queen
14 Wet Elves
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit
Matilda - White Tigress
Liadan - Twau
Sorrel - Armsmistress
Natalie - Blazicunt
Maria – Slutton
Rhea Silvia – Chimera
Alabaster – Dragoness (white)
Onyx – Dragoness (black)
Lapis – Dragoness (blue)
Garnet – Dragoness (red)
Iolite – Dragoness (purple)
Malachite – Dragoness (green with white swirls)
Dabria (was Loviatar) – Dark Queen
Omisha (was Hel) – Demoness
Viersunuth great wyrm blue true dragoness
Helesatra Vyshaan half pit fiend (fiend) half sun elf. Princess of the Vyshaantar Empire.
Talyl – drow commoner
Zarza – drow commoner
Sabrae – drow commoner
Sintree – drow commoner
Alyfaen Dinaen – drow, matron of House Dinaen
Phaerxae Dinaen – drow, former matron of House Dinaen, mother of Alyfaen
Selsharra of Evermeet
Mother Children
Vanessa
Myrna (Age 4)
Saoirse
April
Dorothy: Duelist (Age 3)
Meara: Duelist
Regan: Duelist
Lucifer
Olivia: Megami Sama (Age 6)
Seraphina: Megami Sama
Miram: Angel (Age 5)
Zareen:
Caltha: Nightmare (Age 0)
Kim: Nightmare
Xanthe: Nightmare
Epona: Nightmare
Philippa: Nightmare
Nott: Nightmare
Nyx: Nightmare
Sofia
Anna: Ria
Esmerelda: Ria
Monica Chambers
James: Jamie Harris kid (Age 2)