Chapter 19 Part 2

Perhaps half an hour later there was an azure flicker of light against the green of the surrounding brush. It looked almost as if a hole had opened in mid air and through the hole stepped forth on ivory hooves one of the most majestic sights Dylan had ever seen. It was a unicorn whose hide and mane were shades of blue and the single spiracle horn appeared as a deadly but priceless dark blue sapphire. On the awesome beast's back sat Ultrecht.

A second and even a third flash of light brought forth two more of the wondrous creatures and Dylan recognized Gage's father and the Arch Mage, Armegon. The three rode forth at a trot and passed easily through the wards that Gage had erected. Dylan knew enough about magic to know that the spell from the scroll must have been cast by one of the three riders.

Coran stepped forth and greeted the three arrivals. He reverently stroked the long nose of each of the unicorns and they, in turn nuzzled familiarly back at the strong featured swordsman.

Ultrecht, Armegon and Avery dismounted. The strange eyed Forrester spoke with the three unicorns in a musical language that left a look of wonder on those who had never heard it before. Then the three mounts turned and bounded off into the forest.

"I asked them to check out the area," Avery told Ultrecht and Armegon. "They aren't in any real danger. They're much too quick and alert to be caught unawares."

"When will they come back?" Armegon asked.

"When I call them," Avery assured him.

Crystal rushed past Coran and threw herself into Avery's arms. She buried her face against his broad chest and sobbed noisily. Dylan did not need to be able to hear to know what she was saying.

"Crystal," Avery clamed her with a whispered word, "show me what happened. Try to remember everything about how she appeared just before she vanished." Crystal closed her eyes and straightened her face. Her brows furrowed slightly, then she relaxed.

"There is no immediate danger," Avery said after a moment. "She seems to be a simple hostage at this time. That may change soon, though. I'm afraid that she has been taken to a stronghold. I can’t quite visualize where. But I can find out."

"Wherever it is, then that’s where I’ll go," Crystal whimpered, her gaze resolved and iron. "She is my responsibility and I'll do whatever I have to to bring her back."

"Of course," Armegon agreed. "We will all do whatever we can to help."

Ultrecht approached and pushed past the two halfelves. "Let's get to the business at hand," he urged. "That damn staff could land this whole world right back the way we found it only a thousand times worse."

"Uncle," Gage greeted Ultrecht when the tall man joined them. "Thank you for coming. I know that you had pressing business."

"No business is so pressing that it couldn’t be put aside for this," Ultrecht answered. "It seems that you kids have come across the source of this whole mess. We knew that the Chira dabbled in summoning minor devils, and we knew that the realms of Hell were powerful, but up until now they have more or less been in disarray. There are nine kingdoms of Hell, and each is ruled by a devil of great power. They are called the Dukes of Hell, although whether or not they are all male is sheer speculation."

"The point is," Armegon cut in, "that they have never trusted each other or been very cooperative. Their history is nothing but war and subversion as they all try to plot and overthrow each other. That is the main thing that has kept their power in check."

"But now it seems that one of them has gained the Ebony Staff," Ultrecht continued. "I ran across its listing in a manifest of relics and artifacts some time ago. It was last known to be in the possession of House Blackheart, just before the fall of the gods."

"What does it do?" Gage asked. Without realizing it, he had placed a comforting arm around Crystal's shoulders and was holding her protectively.

Ultrecht answered. "The Ebony Staff was forged from pure shadow. It's not made of wood or any other substance. It is solid darkness, as if you could travel to the ultimate sink of life, energy and magic and bring some of the stuff back. Then form it into an object that could be wielded. The staff, among other things, seems to have the ability to create, and bestow absolute control over all forms of undead. It is a thoroughly despicable and abominable device."

“We should have locked it away long ago,” Avery muttered, “but until now, we didn’t know if it even existed, much less know where it was.”

"It was on our list of things to do," Armegon mused. "Unfortunately, it did not turn up when we ransacked Aspberg."

"Nor did the heir to the Blackheart throne," Avery added. "We had always thought that he had perished, but it's beginning to look otherwise."

"There were rumors that Blackheart had made alliances with the Dukes of Hell," Armegon continued. "They may have granted him sanctuary after the destruction of the gods. He probably took the staff with him."

"I doubt that he was allowed to retain his sovereignty," Avery offered. "Devils aren't hospitable. They wouldn't just let him into their realm out of the kindness of their hearts, despite any alliances."

"Maybe the staff was his payment," Ultrecht finally offered. "In any event, how it got there matters not so much, as the fact that it is there."

"The Dukes of Hell are too powerful as it is," Armegon cursed. "We really need to get that thing away from them."

"Oh, and your going to tell us how to do that?" Avery asked curiously. "This I’ve got to hear!"

"We can't do it," Ultrecht interrupted. "Ever since the destruction of the gods, we three have been watched by the powers of every realm in this universe. We didn't exactly pull off a minor coup. We took an active part in eliminating every god in this world, something none of them had been able to do."

"So if we were to travel to Hell to capture the staff, we would have to face everything that they could throw at us," Armegon perceived. "And this time we don't have the Tome of Creation to help us.

“We don’t even know if that is where the staff is,” Ultrecht reminded.

There was a moment of silence before Avery spoke. "Classic divide and conquer? We could act as a diversion."

"And send the children in?" Armegon asked, unsure.

"Who else?"

"Where shall we go?" Gage asked his father. "The Nine Hells are enormous. We can not just blindly wander through nine planes hoping to find Cindy."

"I'll locate her, my son," Avery explained. "But because of whom we are, neither your uncles nor I can get close to her. We will all assault the Nine Hells, but where we go there will be battle and all the attention of the Dukes of Hell."

"So when we have their attention," Armegon interrupted, "you and the others will have a better chance to infiltrate and rescue the girl."

Gage sighed. He knew that the plan was probably the only way to save Cindy. He knew his family and the power that his father and uncles could bring to bear. He almost wanted to believe that they had a chance. But even though they had defeated the gods, they had had the help of the Tome of Creation, and they had not really taken the gods on head to head.

Did they really think that they could assault the Dukes of Hell and come out alive? Were his uncles and father willing to risk their lives for the sake of a single person?

Granted it was his former initiate, but that was a responsibility long fulfilled. Only Dylan was his true responsibility now, and he was loathe to take the boy into such a dangerous quest.

No, even Gage could read the signs that had been showing through for weeks. Dylan had fallen in love with his former classmate and friend. The apprentice would find a way to go after Cindy no matter what Gage did to try to stop him. The only thing the master could do now was to help as best as he could.

Even if Cindy had not been precious to his own heart as a former student, Gage knew that for Dylan's sake, he would take the risk. And his family were not the kind to sit idly by while someone they knew and cared for was in such danger. His father and his uncles were the three most powerful beings in the entire universe save the Creator, Himself. They would be okay, even if the full weight of the Nine Hells were thrown against them in fury.

Ultrecht was muttering to Armegon and Avery under his breath. The conversation was something argumentative, and some of the words interrupted Gage's reflections. "We know where it is. We can get it. It may have a spell that can help us assault the Nine Hells. For pity's sake, we should consider it."

"We must not," Armegon countered. "I have no doubt that the Overlord could take on the whole of the Nine Hells and emerge victorious, but it's just too dangerous. We can't take the chance it will fall into the wrong hands. Look what Morteous did with it. No, we must leave the Tome of Creation where it is."

"I must agree," Avery added. "Even if I thought going to the Nine Hells was suicide, I would embrace that fate rather than use the Tome again." He fixed Ultrecht with a steady gaze. "Are you sure your desire to retrieve it is a noble one or do you yearn to read its secrets again?"

Ultrecht looked offended. "You know better than ask that."

"I only wanted to remind you of why we agreed to place it where it is. Not even one of us can retrieve it alone. Our greatest task is resisting the temptation to embrace knowledge best left to the Creator. We agreed to this."

"I remember," Ultrecht shot back irritably. "But we never thought this kind of situation would ever arise."

"If we give in to temptation for this, who is to say what we will decide the next time we are faced with difficulty," Avery held his ground. "Eventually we would establish a policy of fetching the most powerful magic book in all the Multiverse just to cure a hangnail. We would become atrophied in our ability to solve our own problems and we would subject ourselves to corruption with ultimate power in our hands. Eventually we would turn against each other."

Ultrecht sighed. "You're right. But we had to consider it."

"That's true. This has been the first real test of our resolve regarding the power of the Tome of Creation," Armegon said comfortingly. "And you are both correct. We had to consider it, and we had to reject it."

Gage had listened to the conversation only vaguely understanding the whole of what they were talking about. He knew of the Tome of Creation, the great spellbook that was used in creating the universe. And he knew that his father and uncles had used it to defeat the gods. He also knew that they had placed it someplace special so that it would never again fall into mortal hands, but he did not know that the three of them actually had the power to go and get it again.

"Father," Gage interrupted. "I know the spell to shift to other planes, but I also know that such magic does not go unnoticed by the inhabitants of the Hells. Even the weakest of devils will know the moment we shift to their realm."

Avery turned to his son. For a moment he just gazed with expressionless amber eyes, but the features of his face and posture was that of a loving father. It was heart wrenching to send his own son into such danger. "Don't worry, son," he assured the young mage. "There are natural conduits and ways to get to the Nine Hells that do not involve the use of magic spells. They will never know you are among them until the girl is recovered."

"And by then, we plan to have them totally preoccupied," Armegon added.

"Then we should get started," Gage urged. "I can not bear to think of the horrors Cindy is going through with every passing moment."

"Of course," Ultrecht agreed and drew himself to his full height. He was actually a very tall man when he stood straight upright. "Gather close."

Gage and the others drew close to the Elemental Archmage. "The Stone Circle?" he asked with a questioning glance to Avery. Gage's father nodded agreement and Ultrecht began to cast his spell.

Dylan had never traveled by mass teleportation before. It was very unusual, and if it were not for the circumstances weighing on his mind and in his heart, he might have taken a greater interest in the spell and its effect, but as it were all he could think of was his poor Cindy in pain and agony. The last vision of her under the hand of the possessed Thomas was intertwined with the horrible scene that they had witnessed together when they had seen Thomas become possessed.

Gage watched the familiar scene of his surroundings fading from sight and then blur into a new scene. In a matter of seconds it was over.